Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Now that I'm slowly easing myself back into this bliggety blog, I've been trying to figure out where to update you and get a little overwhelmed looking back a year ago through pictures and trying to figure out how to explain or not to explain what was going on in our lives. So, to heck with it.
I'm just going to start updating you backwards-ish.
We are doing good. Busy, but good. Still settling and figuring out our new home. The boys are liking school a little more and we are working to get them involved in a good activity routine. I've started kickboxing (and having my muscles cry) again and that to me is huge. I need that disconnect where I don't have to think about anything. Husband and I are both working full-time and adjusting to being together again.
So that is a rough summary of us.
Now for some photos:

The beginning of October we took the boys to the Syracuse Zoo. We ate at a pizza place that was thebomb.com and then we went to Costco (that's the closest one to me and I refuse to give up my membership).

It only took me a year but I finally got my hair cut. It felt so good.

And it was also a rough week at work so I treated myself to a glass of wine.

Gibby's school had a prayer service that he got to be a part of. He thought he was Mr. Important.

Fridays y'all. Fridays are pizza and a movie night and then we all CRASH hard.

See the example below.

The East Coast fall is pretty freaking gorgeous. I'm bummed we haven't been able to take a trip into the most notable foliage areas, but what I've seen here is pretty dang lovely.

Tim Horton's EVERY Friday keeps me sane.

Last weekend we took the boys to a Harvest Festival. It was cute. Small, but cute and there was a great park for the boys to play at. They also got to see a porcupine.

And then, you know, just yoru average Monday driving through town in rainy weather next to the horse drawn buggy. Just a quick reminder that we're in Amish country.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Let's talk time difference for a minute here. All of my life, I've been on the same time difference as my entire family. Sometimes one hour ahead or behind. Not much difference.

I talk to my family and friends on the phone frequently. That's how I feel connected to them. It fills my cup. I talk to a few friends every month, some weekly. I talk to my grandparents and some family members at least once a week. I talk to my parents every day. It makes me feel good to talk to them. To hear their voices and hear how they're doing. To vent about something or to share a ridiculous story from the day.

So now, here we are living in a time zone that's a 2-3 hour difference. Now I know that doesn't seem like a lot. It could be bigger. Heck we could be in Germany and I think that's an 8 hour difference. It could be Korea. That was a 15-hour difference. That one was tricky because when I was going to bed a day behind, Husband was already into his afternoon of the next day.

But this 2-3 time difference is the only thing that TRULY makes me feel far away from family and friends. The boys and I would usually call people in the morning on the way to school. We can't do that now because when we're on our way in to school, most of our family/friends are still snoozing. Because 7 AM here means 5 AM in MT and CO. It also means 4 AM in AZ and no one, I'm pretty sure no one (except maybe me) wants to get up at 4 AM and chat with me on the phone.

So there are now days where I got without being able to talk to my mom. And there are weeks where I haven't been able to call my grandparents. Insert this emoji face:

And it's been tricky for the boys too, because they like calling their grandparents. Caderyn especially has taken to FaceTime and keeping in touch with friends back in CO. That's been really fun for him but we have to keep reminding him no one back West wants a phone call at 5:00 AM from an overly eager 9-year-old who wants to talk about Legos, Jurasasic Park, or the Avengers. I mean there are probably some that do, and hey if that's the case you let me know and we'll be calling right at 5:01 AM your time. So we've adjusted and revamped some of our original communication styles, because that's what you've gotta do when you live apart from family.

But we're adjusting to this New York lifestyle. We're swinging into Fall over here and anxiously gearing up for what we've heard can be crazy winters. But I'm from Montana, so I should be okay, right?

We're just hanging out on Eastern Standard Time looking at Happy Little Trees like a Bob Ross wannabe because these trees are GORG!

Friday, September 21, 2018

At the end of the school year this past May we were left in limbo. Husband was at school until September and was told we wouldn't find out our next home until sometime in May, but maybe June, but probably July, more than likely August...that's how the Army does it.

With limbo looming we were told to pack up, our stuff was going to be in storage, and to just kind of figure the rest out.
So we were packed out, our stuff was shipped to somewhere in Kansas, and the boys and I set out on another great Montana summer adventure.
It was fun, it was stressful, it was a blast, it was tiring. And then FINALLY we got word that we had orders to NY. Not like concrete jungle NY, upstate NY-- only 30 miles from the Canadian border!
Once we knew where we were going, it felt like things took forever to be finalized and then just like that it was happening too quickly.
We had a trailer rented, the car was loaded, my dad flew in to help with the trek and we were on the road for a 4-day, 8 states, 1 out of country trek (Canada) road trip. We called a complaint line on a RUDE taxi driver in Chicago, stopped at Niagra Falls and were introduced to Tim Horton's (AH-MAZING). All this before blasting into a very humid upstate New York. Shortly after we discovered our household goods were NOT arriving as scheduled (oh lawd, another story for another day). So air mattresses and the bare essentials were purchased (hopefully to be reimbursed) and we set about living in an empty house for near three weeks. Sidebar: considering the state of my house at the moment I kind of miss the empty.

School started to mixed reviews from my boys who miss their old school, their old friends. I started a full time job as well as a part-time job on the side (I'm never one to shy away from busy!).
And just like that we're moving into a routine, trying to meet people, getting our house set up (because it took three DANG weeks to get our stuff), and explore a new area. Time feels like it's moving so slowly but also churning past at rapid speed.

Monday, September 10, 2018

It's been a hot minute since my last post.
It's been practically a year. What whaaaaaaaat!?
2017-2018 was a doozy of a year for us folks. We struggled.
But that's all y'all really need to know.

But for now I will sharethat I'm starting to feel more like myself. My perky, blog-writing self and so I'm posting this to let you know I'm thinking about you. And, I'm also going to start posting soon.
We've moved to a whole new part of the country and we're trying to get that all organized as you know moving can be a little CAH-RAY-ZAY.
But we're good and I've got some posts coming, I promise.
Here is a picture from our new home.

Monday, October 30, 2017

The last time I posted was over a month ago.
October has been a hard month for us, y'all.

We lost our sweet girl, Lucy, and have been struggling through the grief of losing her and resentment of feeling like she was taken too soon. Our future is also in limbo with certain things and I am just done and drained.
So, hopefully after this week and weekend I can get back into a routine of posting. Fingers crossed.
Until then:

Contact me

Is there a picture you like or want to use? Did you enjoy something I wrote? Please don't use my photos or writing without my permission, but we can talk if you're interested. Feel free to contact me at smswan@gmail.com. Thanks!